Middle Courtyard

Location information

Location

Affiliation

The Middle Courtyard[1] (also known as the Transfiguration Courtyard) is one of the cloisters in the inner part of Hogwarts Castle. This courtyard has grass in the open area, in which a big tree has grown over the centuries. There is one massive iron Armillary Sphere that stands in the centre of the courtyard.

Behind the scenes

In the first two movies, the scenes in this courtyard were filmed in the cloister of Durham Cathedral. However, in the fourth film, the location used was the New College (Oxford) and a big tree is shown in a corner. In the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game), the courtyard is similar with the courtyard from the first film, but with a large pond instead of a fountain. The Oxford courtyard is also seen in the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but with a smaller tree and slightly different cloister windows. The courtyard shown in the sixth movie (and video game) was built in Leavesden studios, most likely to accommodate the addition of the Astronomy Tower. The set has now been renovated into the newly enlarged Entrance Courtyard for Deathly Hallows.

The courtyard from first two films is similar to the courtyard from the sixth movie and video game, except the new one has the Astronomy tower.

The Courtyard's centre fountain's shape changed during the middle of the first film (when Harry released Hedwig to the winter sky), but it was restored after the scene